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Luther

Starring: Joseph Fiennes
Director: Eric Till
Genre: Drama
Year: 2003
Rating: 2 / 5

Reviewed by Guest Scribe Legend

Luther came as a tremendous disappointment to me, as I find the origins of Protestantism very interesting from a historical perspective. First and foremost, the casting of Martin Luther was abysmal. Any way you slice it, Martin Luther was fat (or shall we say pleasantly plump?). Joseph Fiennes is not, nor is there any attempt to make him look like Luther in the film. So, immediately, anyone who has ever seen a portrait of Martin Luther would have a hard time suspending disbelief.

Here, Luther is not only presented as a maverick, but the representation of his inner turmoil comes off as quasi-insane. We get it, there's a lot bouncing around in that tonsured head of his, but can he at least get a grip and pull it together? Likely not.

I do believe Luther succeeds in showing the selling of indulgences as the main impetus of the infamous posting of the 95 Theses and resulting turmoil, as well as some of the political machinations at play in a time where the Papacy in its own way was more powerful than many of Europe's monarchs. Luther's movement was in fact as much political as religious and allowed many German princes and electors to wriggle free from under the thumb of the Holy Roman Emperor (Charles V at the time). What we don't see are the representatives of the many territories that adhered to Catholicism, an important footnote as the religious differences in Germany caused upheaval for years to come.

The best scenes, of course, are about these political developments and which prominently feature Luther's sovereign, Frederick the Wise (Sir Peter Ustinov in his final film appearance), the Emperor Charles (Torben Liebrecht), and Cardinal Aleandro (Jonathan Firth), who spearheads the resistance to Luther.

With as much promise for high drama as Luther could have provided - Luther's so-called romance with Katharina von Bora (Claire Cox) is virtually sleep-inducing - unfortunately the film ends up as a giant “So what?". I doubt that's the effect a film about one of the most important religious developments ever in Western civilization intended to achieve. In the end, I award points for the solid acting, but the film seems to head nowhere and ultimately fizzles into mediocrity.

Cast:

Certification: Rated PG-13 for violence.
Running Time: 113 minutes.

Additional Info: Internet Movie Database
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